


twenty-something

by veenaistired



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Slow Burn, ham and minato are twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:26:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veenaistired/pseuds/veenaistired
Summary: Persona 3 Uni AUShinjiro and Hamuko meet at a home party, shenanigans ensue. Not the Uni AU you deserve, but the one I'm capable of writing.





	1. No pulling punches

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo so it's almost 2k19 and I'm writing fanfic for a rarepair in a mostly dead fandom. Fun! This is my first time posting on ao3 so uhhh, be gentle. 
> 
> ALSO huge thanks for my good friend Luna for beta-reading this

Shinjiro hated parties. He liked going to bars with friends well enough, or just staying at home and drinking there with them, but home parties? Not his style. The only person he knew at this place was Aki and he gave up the brief effort to socialize with his mostly drunk friends soon. He didn't consider himself antisocial, (though Aki had told him that he could stand to be less of a "coldhearted bastard" on numerous occasions), he just didn't vibe with most people. There also wasn't a lot of common ground between him and the others and he couldn’t bring himself to fake small talk.

Also holy shit the music had been garbage so far. Shinji had found himself a rather isolated spot in one of the bathrooms, but he could still hear Sandstorm play at full volume from outside. _Honestly?_ He resisted the urge to make a gagging noise, not for the first time that evening. God he just wanted to go home. But it hadn't even been two hours yet and he’d promised Aki to be the designated driver for tonight so he couldn't bail. He also couldn't kill his boredom with a buzz so that was that. 

He could hear people’s voices rising outside the bathroom. A fight? Even if there was one, he sure as hell wouldn’t get into it. The noise continued to get louder until a feminine voice screamed „Go fuck yourself!" and everything went quiet. For about a second. Then the partygoers apparently lost interest and got back to whatever they were doing before. The steady chorus of voices from outside the bathroom resumed. Shinjiro sighed. Honestly, he didn't sign up for this shit. Next time Aki could walk or ask Mitsuru to drive for all he cared.

He was thinking about how he could convince Aki to leave when the bathroom door flew open. Shinji’s head immediately snapped into the direction of the door. A girl around his age, give or take a year, stood at the threshold, cradling one hand to her chest. a barely audible „Oh“ escaped her. For a second they just stared at each other, then the expression of surprise was gone and she walked past him, towards the sink. A second later he could hear the sound of running water. At first, Shinjiro thought she’d come to the bathroom to throw up, but now he could see her holding one of her hands under the faucet. It was turned all the way to the left, the coldest setting. The girl was muttering curses to herself. It took him a second but then he counted two and two together. _Oh._

Punching people could hurt like a bitch, he knew that one from experience, especially if done wrong, so he decided to walk up to her. But before he could say anything the girl turned around and hissed „What?“. Shinjiro swore he could feel the room temperature drop a few degrees and reactively took a step back. „Jeez, you really need to chill out.“ 

For a second he thought she was going to walk or lash out at him, but she dropped her gaze and Shinji could feel the murderous aura dissipate. 

„Sorry. I-„ the girl sighed „I didn’t mean to bitch at you“

With that, she turned around and continued to let the water run over her hand.

„Shit night, huh?“ 

„True that“, the girl replied

„Your hand okay?“ All things considered, it was a dumb question, but he asked anyway. 

„Nope.“

„Got in a fight or something?“

„Okay, now you’re just fucking with me.“ Shinjiro couldn’t see her face but he could hear the humor in her voice.

„Maybe,“ he answered, the sarcasm in his tone obvious.

A short while passed before she spoke up again

„Well, since you’ve missed the drama I guess I should catch you up. This one guy was being a dick, I got pissed, he was being a dick some more, I punched him and now I’m regretting my life choices because this shit really hurts“

She let out a frustrated grunt and turned off the water.

„This isn’t helping.“

„Can you move it?“ Shinji offered

The girl tried to ball her injured hand into a fist but didn’t even make it halfway there before she winced in pain.

Shinjiro tried not to cringe. He’d learned the wrong way to throw a punch the hard way too, and it had hurt. A lot. Although the fact that she could move her fingers at all was a good sign, no broken bones then.

„It’s probably just a sprain or a contusion, still, want me to call an ambulance?“

„God no. No need to make this whole mess more dramatic than it already is. It really hurts though so I’m probably just gonna take the bus to the hospital.“

Shinji checked his pocket watch, 1:34, no busses for another three and a half hours and the hospital wasn’t exactly close.

„Good luck with that, last bus for the night left about 30 minutes ago“

„Shit.“

He took a second to consider his options. Technically he could just go find Aki and talk him into leaving, but he felt sorry for the girl. She was probably the only person at this party having a worse night than him.

„Want me to drive you? To the hospital I mean.“

She gave him a suspicious look and suddenly he felt like the dumbest man to ever walk the face of the earth. _„Yeah just get into my car with me, you’re probably drunk and just met me five minutes ago.“_ Real reassuring.

„Nevermind. I can call you a cab tough?“

„No wait I- I’m not exactly swimming in cash right now, but-„ she looked right at him, maroon eyes, he noted. „I’d take you up on the offer for the lift though if it still stands. And only if you’re sober“

Shinjiro quickly shook off his surprise at her answer and nodded. 

„I’m dd-ing for a friend tonight“

„Oh. Shouldn’t you stay then?“

„Nah, he seemed to be enjoying himself. I’ll be back by the time he wants to go.“

„Alright then“

She turned to leave the room and he followed. As they made their way to the entrance, Shinji spotted a few guys in a corner, one of them nursing a seemingly bloody nose. _Huh, not bad._

———

Even though her hand hurt like shit, Hamuko couldn’t help but smile when she saw Kiyoshi’s bloody nose. Well, maybe the pain was worth it after all.

After they’d left the building it was only a short walk to the car. Minato would be pissed if he found out she was getting into a strangers car and Yukari would outright murder her. Hell, even Junpei ’d think it to be a stupid decision. But Hamuko had a hunch that he was alright, and never once in her life had her gut-feeling betrayed her when it came to things like that. Sure, he seemed aloof, maybe even a bit cold, but trustworthy enough. Not a crazed axe murderer who’d leave her corpse in a dumpster. She also hadn’t lied about being a bit broke, typical end of the month, and really appreciated the offer.

Speaking of which, she didn’t even know his name yet. 

„Wait. What’s your name?“

He looked faintly surprised as if he’d forgotten they hadn’t introduced themselves

„Shinjiro.“

Shinjiro. She thought the name rang a bell, but she was too exhausted to whack her brain about it and Tatsumi Port was a big city, so it probably didn’t matter anyway.

„Hamuko,“ she answered, „I’d shake your hand but, you know, ouch.“

Of course, it had to be the right one. Taking notes in class was going to be a pain and Rio would quite probably kill her, bring her back, and make her work on her stamina until she could properly play Volleyball again. _Ugh._

„Don’t worry about it, never been a big fan of etiquette anyway“ Shinjiro said as he got into the car.

Hamuko sat down in the passenger’s seat and awkwardly buckled herself in with one hand. When she was done she just gave Shinjiro a brief nod and he started the car.

He didn’t turn on music or the radio, but after how loud the party had been Hamuko didn’t really mind. She wasn’t drunk, only slightly buzzed, and the silence helped clear her head a little. 

„Why’d you punch him?“ she’d been looking out the window, focused on watching the streetlights pass by, so the question caught her a little off guard. 

„Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.“

„No, it’s okay.“ She didn’t know why, but somehow she didn’t really mind telling him about it. 

„At first he was just being your usual drunk idiot. Gross „compliments“ and jokes. You name it. And of course, he didn’t take rejection well. Not a reason to hit him though. But-„ she let out a sigh „then he started talking shit about my brother. Things I don’t really want to repeat. I got really angry and, well, you know the rest.“

She avoided looking at him while talking, but when she finally did Shinjiro had an amused look on his face.

„What?“ 

„Nothing. Just reminded me of something similar that happened to me,“ he said, without taking his eyes off the road. Hamuko just nodded and continued looking out of the window. They didn’t talk for the rest of the ride

When arrived at the hospital Hamuko was almost sad it was over. She wasn’t looking forward to trading the cozy car seat for an uncomfortable plastic chair in the waiting room. 

There was also the problem of what she was going to tell the doctors. „I punched a guy at a party.“ seemed pretty incriminating.

As if he’d read her thoughts, Shinjiro turned to her and said „If they ask tell them someone accidentally slammed a door on your hand. Worked every time so far“

She felt a smile creep up her face „You’re some sort of expert on this field I take it?

Instead of answering he just let out a chuckle. 

„You gonna get home alright? You said you didn’t have money for a cab.“

„Ah, don’t worry. My brother gets off his shift at 2:30 and he was going to pick me up anyways. I’m just going to tell him to come here. But considering my luck so far, I’ll probably be sitting in that waiting room until noon.“

Yup. She really didn’t look forward to that.

She was just about to get out of the car when he caught her by the good wrist. Not grabbing her, just enough to make her pause.

„Next time you punch someone you want to keep your thumb outside of your fingers, curling it in and around the second knuckles of the others. And keep the fist tight. Since I’m such an expert on the field“

Hamuko let out a laugh „Well, thanks for the free lesson coach. And the lift. See you around“

„See you around“, he answered

With that she got out of the car and walked into the hospital, wondering if she should have asked for his number.


	2. Drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof finally done with this chapter! It took me way longer than I thought it would but better late than never I guess. Thanks again to Luna for beta reading, you rock!

For a second Shinjiro considered asking Hamuko for her number, but she’d seemed exhausted and he didn’t want to make it sound like she owed him for the lift. So he just said his goodbyes and made his way back to the party. As he was driving, he found that the silence was bothering him. Weird. Just a while ago he’d been aching to leave the noise of the party behind and he still didn’t look forward to going back there. On the next red light, he lit himself a cigarette. In the back of his mind, he could already hear Aki nagging him about it but, hey, his ride, his rules. 

It had gotten pretty late, so chances were good Akihiko would want to go home by now. Shinjiro thought about texting him and waiting in the car but decided against it. Aki didn’t drink often and Shinjiro could count the times he’d seen him properly drunk on one hand, still, he wanted to check up on him, just in case. 

The Party had been in full swing when he and Hamuko left, but now it seemed to be slowly dying down. Few people were still dancing, the others seemed to be either too drunk or too tired. He could hear someone throwing up in another room. _Oh Well._ At least it wouldn’t be too hard to find Aki. 

He didn’t have to look for long. He spotted Akihiko as soon as he walked into the kitchen.

„Shinji, there you are! I’ve been looking for you.“

„Uh, yeah. Something came up.“

His friend looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

„What are you giving me that look for?“

Akihiko sighed, “Look, I’m sorry for dragging you here with me, but if you wanted to leave that bad you could have told me.

„Wh- this isn’t why I left.“

He was interrupted by Akihiko before he could explain „Anyways, let’s get going, I’m getting tired.“

Shinjiro sighed. „Sure.“

He was glad to leave the party behind for good. It was a little past half past two and he had to work later today. Whatever. Shinjiro was used to running on little sleep anyways. 

„Your car is in a different spot,“ Akihiko mentioned as they were walking. „You went for a drive?“

„Something like that.“ He unlocked the car

Aki didn’t ask about it but Shinjiro could read his best friend well enough. Needless to say, it also worked the other way around. Aki obviously knew that there was more to the story and Shinji felt he owed him an explanation after disappearing on him.

„You notice that guy getting punched?“

Akihiko nodded, „I don’t think anyone could have missed that.“

„Yeah, anyways the girl who hit him got her hand all messed up. I drove her over to the hospital.“

„Oh, so that’s where Hamuko went! She just disappeared after the whole mess so I was a little worried.“

„You know her?“, even though Akihiko was popular, he wasn’t exactly a social butterfly so Shinjiro was a little surprised at his exclamation. 

„Yeah, she’s on the Uni Volleyball team so we met a couple of times over at the gym. I think she’s pretty good, actually. A core member of the team. Oh, she’s also flatmates with Mitsuru’s girlfriend“

„I see", Tatsumi Port might have been a big city but _damn_ was the world a small place. Everyone seemed to know everyone, "Anyways, no need to worry she wasn’t badly hurt and seemed capable enough to handle herself.“

A little while passed before Aki spoke up again „So?“, Shinjiro didn't like the way he dragged the word out at all.

„So what?“

„So, did you ask for her number?"

Shinjiro was almost a bit shocked, but then again Aki and he had been friends for so long they could practically read each other's minds. But still, he'd only considered asking her for a split second and hadn't said a lot about Hamuko to Aki. _Hell,_ he didn't even know if he was interested in her at all.

"Course not."

„But you thought about it." _What the fuck_. If his friend could read him that well he needed to step up his game. 

„What makes you say that?" 

"First of all, you're not the type of guy who gives out favors to strangers, second you're super particular about who you let into your car and most importantly, I _know_ you."

Shinjiro knew there wasn't any point in arguing. „Whatever. Just can it and be grateful I’m driving you."

Thankfully Akihiko didn't bring Hamuko up again after that. Instead, they talked a bit about the party and their plans for the next few days. Trivial things. Akihiko had a tournament coming up in a little less than two months, so he'd be training a lot. 

Shinji dropped him off at his apartment and drove straight home after that. Even though Aki had asked him if they wanted to share a flat a few times, he lived by himself. Of course, it would have been cheaper, but even though he loved his best friend dearly he needed to be alone sometimes.

It was about 3 am when he arrived. That gave him about 8 hours before he had to be at work. Working at Hagakure Ramen sure had it's perks, not having to work before 11 am was definitely one of them. It wasn't the most prestigious or well-paid job, but for now, it suited him well enough. Shinjiro considered going to bed early, but he doubted he’d be able to fall asleep. He’d been having problems with that for years and by now his body had adapted to it. Mitsuru and Aki were so worried they made him go to a doctor and get a prescription for sleeping pills at one point, but he wasn’t really bothered by his terrible sleeping habits, so he never took them. Instead, he opened up a window, unbothered by the cold November air and lit himself another cigarette.

—

"I can't believe you did this", Minato said for the third time that night.

Hamuko sighed "Well you better because I did."

She could tell her brother wasn't really angry at her. More concerned and maybe a touch annoyed. Well, Ham couldn't really fault him for that, if he'd called her to pick him up from the hospital in the middle of the night she'd feel the same. But still, she was tired and really not in the mood for a lecture. She'd spend over an hour in that hospital waiting room and they hadn’t given her any painkillers because of the few drinks she’d had.

"Honestly Ham, what if you'd gotten hurt more badly? The guy could've punched you back, you know."

"Look, worst case scenario my hand would be broken and I'd have been the one to end up with a fucked up nose. I'd be fine."

"Ham! Don't even-", Minato let out a frustrated grunt, "It wouldn't have been worth it. Whatever kind of shit Kiyoshi said about you, you know it isn't true anyway."

"As if I didn't know that! If I punched every creep who ever tried to come onto me I'd be in jail for assault by now. He was talking shit about you. And Ryuji. That you were sick. Disgusting. The f word. Some other pretty nasty stuff."

Upon hearing that her twin actually seemed shaken up a bit. "Oh."

He took a second to compose himself before looking over to her. "Ham I get why you're so protective. I feel the same, we're twins after all." He took one hand from the wheel and put it on hers."But if I'd punched every homophobic asshole who ever talked shit about me I'd be the one in jail for assault. So promise you won't pull anything like that again, okay?" 

She was a little surprised about that reaction. Her brother usually wasn't one for words. 

"I promise." her twin lightly squeezed her hand before putting his own hand back on the wheel. 

After that she just kind of dozed off for the rest of the ride. God, she just wanted to go to bed. Change into something comfortable and sleep in the next day. Walking up the stairs to their apartment on the fourth floor felt like running a marathon.

Even though it was almost 4 am she wasn't at all surprised to see that Junpei was still awake. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, typing furiously on his laptop, music turned up so loud that she could still hear it through his headphones. Books and crunched up papers were lying all around him and a big bowl of cereal was standing dangerously close to the edge of the couch table. 

"If you don't leave any cereal for tomorrow Yukari is going to murder you. You know that, right?" 

As Hamuko said that, Junpei jumped a little not having noticed them come in. 

"Dude, you almost scared me to death!",Junpei got up from the couch and almost knocked over the cereal. "How was the party?" 

"Shit." 

"Damn, did anything happen?" 

As a response, she just raised her right hand, which was in a bright blue splint. 

Junpei whistled, "Woah what did you do?" 

Before she could answer his question, Minato said "She punched Kiyoshi. Contused her hand. "

"Holy. Fucking. Shit." Hamuko could see Junpei's jaw drop. "What did he do? Are you okay?" 

"I'm better off than he is, that's for sure. And..." she paused for a second, "Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore." Minato gave her the tiniest of nods. Telling Junpei about it would probably just cause more problems, they both knew that. He wasn't a violent person, but he loved his friends fiercely and, frankly, was kind of an idiot sometimes. She didn't want her best friend get in trouble on her behalf. 

"Damn, calling an ambulance to a home party probably wasn't too fun either." 

"That's why I didn't call one", Hamuko replied, "Some guy gave me a lift." Junpei raised an eyebrow but was cut off by Minato before he could say anything.

"You did what?!", Hamuko just sighed. _Here goes._ She really wasn't in the mood for this right now. "Ham that's dangerous! You can't just get into a stranger's car! You could have been hurt, or worse."

"Minato." she cut him off before he could continue, "It wasn't a big deal. Also, I'm fine, obviously." she doubted that would appease her brother. "He didn't seem shady either and he was sober."

"He didn't seem shady? Honestly?" 

"Oh come the fuck on! If I was a man you wouldn't give two shits about this and we both know it." Hamuko could feel her patience running thin. "I'm not stupid or a child. I made a decision and you don't get to question that." 

Her brother looked taken aback a little and she almost felt a little bad. "I'm tired and my hand hurts, so please save the lecture for tomorrow, okay?" 

"Fine." He turned around, expression unreadable and walked away into the kitchen. Great. 

"Junpei, whatever you were going to say, save it. I'm not in the mood."

He looked a little conflicted but just nodded. "Night Bro." 

Hamuko smiled, "Thanks, you too. Seriously, go to bed, you're horrible when you're sleep deprived.“

With that, she retreated to her room. Hamuko knew she'd regret not taking a shower or brushing her teeth in the morning, but right now she just couldn't be bothered. She quickly scanned the mess that was her room for something to sleep in and found a large t-shirt on the floor. It was one of Minato's. He wasn't much taller than her so at this point most of their wardrobe was interchangeable. Hamuko put it on and left her clothes lying where they were in a small pile. A small sigh of contentment escaped her when she laid down in her bed and wrapped herself into a blanket burrito. 

After a while, Hamuko had fallen asleep so she couldn't tell if it'd been minutes or hours, the door to her room creaked open. 

"Ham?" She was drowsy, but she could make out her brothers voice among hundreds, "Are you awake?" 

"Mhhhhnn" 

She could feel the mattress bend a bit as Minato sat down next to her on the bed. "I'm sorry about earlier. I know you're not dumb, I was just worried."

"I know. I'm sorry too." 

"Night Ham, I love you dummy“

"Love you too ugly."

She was asleep again only seconds after he left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for reading!


	3. Text Message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life's been pretty crazy lately so this chapter is up a bit later than I originally planned. Well, it's a little longer than the others though? I guess? Also, the next one is already partially written so I hope it won't take me 300 years to finish it. Thanks for sticking around and have fun reading.

Volleyball practice had never been less fun. Hamuko’s hand didn’t really hurt anymore but she still needed to go easy on it, so she wasn’t able to participate in anything that involved an actual Volleyball. Instead, Rio had her run laps around the courts and practice jumps. Even though Hamuko was used to training hard her legs would kill her tomorrow. Definitely. At least her captain hadn’t been as pissed about the situation as she’d expected. Rio really was more upset over the fact that the team would lose one of its core players for two weeks, but at least there weren’t any upcoming matches during that time.

„I would have done the same. No, actually I think I’d have kicked him in the nuts instead.“ Rio was fierce and took no bullshit, so her reaction to Hamuko’s story didn’t come as much of a surprise. 

Taking a nice long shower after the training session felt like heaven, even though the water at the gym didn’t get any warmer than it needed to in order to not freeze anyone solid. Ever. Getting dressed using just one hand was a pain though. A lot of mundane things had been, thanks to the splint and Hamuko was sick of it by now. Typing on the laptop one handed? Excruciatingly slow. Tying up your hair with only one hand? Downright impossible. At least the pesky thing could come off in a few days and she was looking forward to that moment every waking second. 

December was approaching and temperatures seemed to be dropping with every passing day. Her breath was clearly visible against the late autumn air, escaping from her mouth in tiny clouds. Hamuko drew the zipper of her winter jacket all the way up, past her chin, not caring that it made her look kind of stupid. She burrowed her hands as deep in her pockets as humanly possible and drew her shoulders up to prevent even the smallest amount of icy wind to enter in between her jacket and her skin. 

„Hey, Arisato!“

Hamuko jumped a little, startled by the sudden shout. She whirled around to get a look at who was shouting at her. Jogging up to her was Akihiko Sanada, wearing running clothes that looked way too thin to protect him from the cold. _Seriously?_ Did that guy even feel cold or was he some kind of superhuman. Almost every time they met he was involved in some kind of physical activity, so she wouldn’t have been surprised if he was. 

„Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you“, the young man offered.

They weren't exactly friends, but the few times they had hung out outside of the school's gym had been pleasant and he seemed like a nice enough guy. Yukari’s girlfriend Mitsuru had introduced him to her close knitted group of friends and everyone got along with him just fine. She wouldn't have minded talking to him if it wasn't so damn cold.

"Don't worry about it. Do you need something? Not to be rude but it's really cold out here and I kind of want to get home before I freeze my ass off."

Akihiko let out a chuckle, "Maybe you need to run a few more laps then", he hadn't stopped running when he reached her and was now jogging in place. _Typical._

"God no. Rio made more than sure I got my fair share of running today. I think my legs might turn to pudding any second"

At that Akihiko just gave her a nod, "Yeah, your captain is no joke," the volleyball team's captain had a reputation for training hard and expecting no less of her teammates," Anyways, I just saw you walk out of the gym and wanted to check up on you. Is your hand getting better? I heard what happened at the party so... "

Hamuko buried her face in her functional hand and let out a heavy sigh, "I'm never going to live that one down am I?"

"Probably not, but if it's any consolation Kiyoshi had it coming big time. Someone had to knock him off his high horse. You just took that one for the team."

Hamuko shot him an amused look, "And what team might that be?" 

"Team fed up with obnoxious garbage," Akihiko offered. "You seem fine though. Shinji will be glad to hear it." 

"Shinji?" 

"Ah, I mean Shinjiro. The one who drove you to the hospital."

"You know him?" Hamuko asked, the surprise in her voice apparent. 

"Yep. We've been best friends since we were kids. I'm the one he was dd-ing for at the party so that's how I know about the whole... incident."

Well damn. Tatsumi Port wasn't a small city by any standards, but apparently smaller than Hamuko had thought. "Wow, I never would have thought. Honestly, I feel kind of bad though, he went out of his way to drive me and all he got was a half-assed thank you.“ 

„I wouldn’t worry about that too much if I were you. He wouldn’t have helped you if he didn’t want to.“

„But still-„

She was interrupted by Akihiko before she could finish the sentence. „You part-time at Bookworms right? In the strip mall?“

„Yeah, why?“ She crossed her arms in front of her, a little put off by the sudden change of subject.

„Well, Shinjiro works at Hagakure Ramen, I assume you know it,“ Hamuko gave him a nod, „If you want to thank him again you can drop by before they open. I’m sure he’d be glad to see you.“

At that something in Hamuko… lit up? She had no way of describing it and the feeling was gone and forgotten not even a second after she’d noticed it was there in the first place. Even though it had been over a week she hadn’t been able to forget about the night of the party. Still, she felt a little unsure about Akihiko’s suggestion. 

„Are you sure he won’t mind?“

„Absolutely.“

„Alright, I’ll drop by then. Nice talking to you but I think I’ve already lost my toes to this cold and I’d rather avoid any further casualties.“

Akihiko gave her a smile „Save yourself. Bye Hamuko.“ 

„Bye.“ She waved her hand at him before turning around and continuing her way home. Behind her, she could hear Akihiko’s feet hit the ground. However, she couldn’t see the grin that was plastered on his face. 

—

The sound of the knife hitting the chopping board over and over again was filling up the small kitchen, while the pile of neatly cut vegetables steadily grew. Prep had always been Shinjiro’s favorite part about cooking. The cutting motions came to him on instinct, having been ingrained in his muscle memory over years of practice. That gave him time to clear his thoughts, let his mind wander. Calm down before the coming storm of customers and lunch orders. Somehow the short period of prep work refreshed Shinjiro more than the few hours of sleep he’d gotten that night. He glanced at the clock 11:19, still plenty of time until the restaurant would open for the day. 

The comfortable silence was torn apart by the sound of the phone vibrating in his bag. Shinjiro finished chopping up the last few spring onions, not wanting to break his flow, before he went to check his phone for messages. There was only one, by Akihiko,

„You’re welcome.“

He raised an eyebrow at the cryptic text, but before he could type out a reply the little bell at the door rang out, signaling that a customer had entered the restaurant. Great. He had to have forgotten to lock the door again after coming in. Still, the sign at the door ought to have been turned to say „Closed“. 

„Look, we’re closed,“ Shinjiro tried to keep the annoyance in his voice to a minimum as he turned around to face the early customer, „If you want food you’ll have to come back in - “, he stopped mid-sentence. In the doorway of Hagakure Ramen stood the girl from the party. Hamuko. 

She was looking at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, as if she'd been about to say something. „I- sorry I can come back later.“

Hamuko was already turning around to leave again when he hastily spoke, „No wait, stay.“ Mentally, he was slapping himself. Shinjiro knew he came off as cold and Akihiko had told him often enough that he had sort of a threatening effect on people, but he really hadn’t meant to chase her away. 

„Really? I don’t want to bother you.“

A small sigh escaped him, “Really.“ Strange. Usually he hated it when people interrupted him during his downtime, but weirdly enough he didn’t mind at the moment. 

With that, a smile returned to the girl’s face. She walked across the small room and took a seat at the counter, right across from where he was standing. Questions were forming in his head. What was she doing here, at this time? Did she know he worked at Hagakure, and if so, how? Before he could voice any of them, however, the Hamuko spoke up,

„Akihiko told me you worked here. Really I had no idea the two of you were friends! Anyways, I wanted to come over and thank you again, for driving me and all. So uh… thanks.“ 

Of course, Aki had told her. At least, that explained the weird text. Smug Bastard. 

„You came all the way to the mall just to thank me?“ 

„Well, no. I part-time at Bookworms. The small used book store run by the old couple“, that rang a bell, he passed by the store nearly every day, but had never gone in, „I have a shift in a bit so I just came here a little earlier.“ 

„Yeah, I know the bookstore. As for the ride, It was nothing so don’t worry about it.“

Hamuko nodded and an awkward kind of silence settled over them. Just great. For a while, it couldn’t have been longer than twenty seconds, even though it felt like an eternity, neither of them said anything or met the others eye. Just when it seemed like she was going to get up and leave, she spoke up.

„You said something similar happened to you once.“

„What?“, he answered, just as surprised by her suddenly talking again as by the actual question.

„That night, in the car. You said that you had a similar experience.“

Oh, right. _That._

„When Aki and I were kids, we used to get into fights on each other’s behalf all the time. Mostly him though, he was even more of a hotheaded idiot than he’s now.“ At that, memories started flooding through him, hazy, because of all the years that had passed. Akihiko, ten years old, starting a fight with a boy a full head bigger than him because he was bothering his sister. Two years later, three kids trying to gang up on the two of them and losing. After school in the courtyard, that time it was him to throw the first punch.

„Are you okay?“, he must have spaced out quite a bit, her voice was laced with concern. Quickly, Shinjiro pulled himself back into reality. 

„Yeah,“ he offered rather curtly. Once again, he worried about being too cold and putting her off, but Hamuko just nodded back at him, a warm expression in her eyes.

„So you two have known each other for a long time then?“ He didn’t like being asked personal questions, but for some reason, he found it didn’t bother him this time.

„Yes, we grew up in the same orphanage.“ At that statement, something shifted in the way she looked at him. He felt stupid for telling her, but even more than that, he didn’t want her to pity him. It’s what everyone, except Aki, did and even though he knew people meant well, he was thoroughly sick of it. 

„My parents are gone too. I mean, my brother and I still have family. We used to live with our uncle, but since we moved to Tatsumi Port when we started High School we’ve been on our own.“ Surprised at her answer, Shinjiro found himself unsure of what to say. It turned out he didn’t have to think of anything because Hamuko kept on talking.

„I mean, it’s not the same as growing up in an orphanage, but I think I can relate. At least a little.“, she abruptly paused, her cheeks turning a little pinker, „Ah, sorry. I’m rambling.“ 

He couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him. „Not a problem. I’m just glad I didn’t get a pity party.“

„From me? Never. They really start getting on your nerves after the first few months. It’s weird though.“

„What is?“

„The fact that we had to bring up the whole dead parents ordeal to break the ice. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile before.“ For some reason, her statement knocked the wind out of him and once again, he found himself unable to respond. He barely knew that woman, and yet, she managed to get past his defenses as easily as if they’d known each other for an eternity. Once again, he didn’t have to respond, as she did it for him.

„Crap!“, she jumped up from the seat. „I gotta book it, my shift starts in a few, but I’ll see you around?“

„Yeah. Sure.“ _Real smooth Shinjiro._

„Real smooth,“ she said in a playful tone a smile on her lips. As if she’d read his thoughts. „You know what? Next time my flatmates and I go out with Akihiko and Mitsuru you should come along. I still owe you so I’ll buy you a drink.“ 

_„I’ll buy you a drink.“_ The way she said it it sounded like an afterthought. Like she hadn’t even considered the implications of that sentence. Or maybe she had but just didn’t care. Wait. Did he care? 

„Alright then.“ He quickly answered, before his mind could continue the downward spiral it was currently on. Hamuko flashed him a smile and waved goodbye before exiting the small restaurant. After she was gone, Shinjiro found himself releasing a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. 

—

Akihiko had just finished hauling bags full of groceries up the stairs and into his little apartment when his phone vibrated in his back pocket. A single text message, from his best friend. Akihiko’s mouth curled into a wide grin as he read it, even though it only consisted of one word. 

„Bastard.“


	4. Just a regular sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hamuko plays Volleyball, Shinjiro comes to a realization and Akihiko enjoys watching it all happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo. I know this has kind of taken ages but better late than never, right? At least this one is a little bit longer than the others. I'd also like to thank all of you for reading and especially for commenting. Life has been tough the lately and reading your comments always brightens up my day. 
> 
> Special thanks to Luna the absolute legend for beta reading and putting up with my ramblings!
> 
> Enjoy reading.

She donned her red uniform like armor, the knee and elbow braces part of the plating. A soldier ready to go into battle. She had no name, at that moment she was only the number on the back of her shirt.

Libero. That's who she was. Until the end of the game, Hamuko Arisato did not exist.

The team took starting positions. Ready for war. Anticipation coursed through her veins, she was eager to move, the energy within almost overflowing, but she had to be still. Bound by a spell until the sound of the whistle. Somewhere, in the back of her head, she knew her twin was there, among the audience. Even though she couldn't see him, she could feel his presence around her like a comforting blanket. She was about to go into battle, but he anchored her to reality, as he always did. Their invisible bond giving her strength. 

Finally, the whistle sounded, loud and shrill and all thoughts fell away like withered petals. Time stopped mattering. She moved.

The air was humming with electricity as the bodies on the court started to move. All eyes on the ball. It was the shiny sphere that demanded all attention. Like the sun. Though her focus rested on the round object, it wasn't her primary objective. She wasn't the great hero who scored the points, the star of the show. Instead, she functioned as the last line of defense. The last to avoid disaster before it strikes. The one that the others could depend on.

Shoes made squeaking noises as they slid on the floor. The ball changed sides quickly, either side trying from preventing it to touch their part of the court at all cost. She moved quickly, executing the moves ingrained in her muscle memory through rigorous training without thinking. More than once she threw herself to the floor to avoid the enemy team scoring a point. Every single one mattered after all. Sweat stuck her bangs to her forehead and she was breathing hard, but the thought of stopping never once crossed her mind. It was moments like this where she felt most alive.

The cheers of the audience flooded the gym as the game was nearing its conclusion. Both teams were close to sweet victory, and neither of them was backing down. They were going all out. But she wouldn’t let excitement cloud her judgment. At moments like these, concentration was more important than anything else. 

Time almost ground to a halt as the ball was approaching the ground. Her team’s side of the ground. She wasn’t about to let that happen. In a split second the libero dove to the right, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Instead of the floor, the ball touched her hands. A crisis averted. Time resumed its flow and the ball changed sides once more. A few seconds later, the game was won.

Both the crowd and her team started cheering loudly. Hamuko’s eyes immediately turned to the gallery, seeking out her twin. She found him almost immediately and flashed him a big smile, before turning her attention back to her team. The joy of victory was written all over their faces as they threw their arms around each other in a giant group hug. 

 

—

 

„Seriously, what are we doing here.“ 

„Just be patient.“

When his best friend had asked Shinjiro to hang out that Sunday, this wasn’t what he’d expected. They’d met at 9 am, early for a Sunday, but Shinjiro hadn’t been sleeping anyways so he didn’t mind. But when he’d asked his friend where they’d be going Akihiko had just grinned and told him it was going to be „a surprise“. In the end, he’d led Shinjiro to one of the gym buildings on his campus. Judging by the number of people gathered, there had to be some sort of event going on. A match maybe? His guess was confirmed when they entered and made their way to the gallery. Dozens of people were already seated, chatting amongst each other. No athletes were to be seen on the court yet, but a few attendees were putting up a scoreboard and a Volleyball net. Weird. It was no big secret that Akihiko loved sports, but he wasn’t the kind of person who just watched. He always wanted a piece of the action. And as far as Shinjiro knew, his friend wasn’t really into team sports. 

Shinjiro checked his pocket watch and decided to screw being patient.

„Aki, why are we here. You don’t care for volleyball, I definitely don’t care for volleyball and it’s not even ten in the goddamn morning,“ he addressed his friend, not bothering to hide the annoyment in his tone. 

To his dismay, Akihiko just flashed him a smile, eyes sparkling in the mischievous way they always did, just before he got them into trouble. Great. Shinjiro must have given him the stink eye, because, finally Akihiko spoke up.

„Look, just trust me on this one. Besides, don’t act like you’re all busy and shit. If I hadn’t rung you up you’d probably just sit at home chain-smoking.“

That much was true, he didn’t have anything better to do. Shinjiro sighed inwardly as he leaned back into his seat. He was here now, so he might as well enjoy the ride. Or at least try to. Akihiko, apparently satisfied by his friend's silence, turned his attention to his phone, seemingly texting someone. Even though he was bored, Shinjiro didn’t want to pry, so he looked out across the court once more, where a woman appeared to be testing a microphone. A few moments later, her voice filled the hall.

„Welcome to the first round of regional preliminaries for this year’s national universities volleyball women’s championship.“ The announcer sounded to be about as thrilled to be here as Shinjiro felt. „Let me introduce the teams. First, the team from Tatsumi Private.“

At that the audience broke into a clap, the opposite side of the gallery noticeably more enthusiastic about it. Akihiko clapped too, but it seemed more out of good sportsmanship than actual joy to see the green-clad team of athletes enter the court. After the group finished lining up neatly, the announcer continued. „Next, our own team from Tatsumi Port Public.“ 

This time the people around Shinjiro erupted into deafening cheers and the atmosphere instantly changed. Akihiko nudged him with his elbow, so he started clapping too. At least he knew who he was supposed to be cheering for. Another team entered the hall, this time dressed in red. He was already losing interest when he noticed it. A familiar auburn ponytail bobbing up and down merrily on top of the head of a young woman. Hamuko. _Of course._ Akihiko had mentioned she was part of a volleyball team once. 

Even among her similarly clothed teammates, she stood out. Not just because she was shorter than most of them, but because her confident steps seemed to carry an energy that radiated through the entire court. 

When Shinjiro turned to his side again, his best friend had a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. Smug bastard. Shinjiro tried to think of something to say to him but chose to keep his mouth shut. Thankfully, Akihiko did the same. He really wasn’t in the mood for one of his friend’s snarky comments. 

As the announcer carried on, he turned his attention back to Hamuko. Shinjiro couldn’t see her face very well from where was sitting, but she seemed concentrated. Ready. The mood in the hall shifted as the players shook hands and took positions. Even the audience tensed up a little. 

The shrill noise of the whistle sounded through the building. 

Then everything seemed to happen at once. Players moving so fast, they were almost reduced to red or greed blurs, the ball changing sides every couple of seconds. He just knew the basic rules about volleyball, nothing about the specific positions or anything tactical. But even with his limited knowledge, he could clearly see that both teams were evenly matched. Even though the match was interesting, his glance kept darting over to Hamuko, even when the volleyball wasn’t near her. 

She was radiant. Full of raw energy and power. 

Multiple times she hit the floor hard to prevent the ball from touching her side of the court. Even though she wore knee and elbow braces, it looked painful. She sure was tough. The way she threw Volleyball looked precise and powerful. Shinjiro sure didn’t envy that Kiyoshi guy, that much was certain. He’d seen his fair share of fights but taking a punch from Hamuko Arisato was a fearful thought. 

Shinjiro was smiling inwardly, lost in thought when he heard the whistle sound again. Tatsumi Port Public had won the match. The red-clad players were hugging each other in celebration. Even from his removed spot on the gallery, he could see Hamuko’s smile. She was as bright as a full moon. 

And at that moment he realized: He was completely and utterly fucked.

 

—

 

The realization that he was crushing on Hamuko simultaneously excited and scared the fuck out of Shinjiro. And the fact that Aki had sensed his infatuation before he did himself straight up pissed him off. After Shinjiro had managed to pry his eyes off Hamuko, he instantly felt his best friend's gaze on him. Akihiko had the decency to not say anything but the words "I told you so" were written all over his stupid face. God, Shinjiro wanted to wipe that stupid expression off his friend's face.

"At least it was an interesting game, I'll give you that. It was close."

"Yeah, they both played extremely well. Though the game doesn't seem to be the only thing that caught your interest." The amusement in Akihiko's voice was obvious. _Asshole._

"You planning on going anywhere else or do I finally get some quiet." He tried to sound casual, but annoyment showed in his voice nevertheless. 

"Oh you're not off the hook yet Shinji", he decided that he did not like the mischievous tone in his best friends voice. "We're gonna go see her of course." 

At that, a traitorous feeling spread through Shinjiro's stomach. A mix of joy and excitement and fear. Definitely fear. He tried to retain a neutral expression but judging by the grin on Akihiko's face, that hadn't worked out. Thankfully his friend had apparently decided that he'd roasted him enough for now and kept his mouth shut. After they left the gallery Akihiko motioned for Shinjiro to follow him, and even though he'd rather have bolted, he knew trying to leave now would be futile. Shinjiro Aragaki wasn't a coward by any means, but he'd have liked a little time to sort out his thoughts. Well, _fuck it._

Akihiko led him down a corridor and just as Shinjiro wondered if Hamuko would be hard to find, she came around a corner, walking so fast that she almost collided with them. 

"Ah shit I'm so-", she seemed to be in a hurry, but when she looked up at them a smile spread across her face instead. 

"Hello to you too, I guess. Good game by the way." While Shinjiro was still recovering from the shock of running into Hamuko so suddenly, Akihiko was already talking. 

"Ooh, high praise indeed, coming from you. But yeah, we were on fire today! Don't come too close to me though, I smell like a burning garbage dump right now." Her gaze darted over to Shinjiro, "Thank you too, for coming to watch. Heaven knows our team needs all the support it can get."

Shinjiro found that it was finally time to get his head out of his ass and confront the whole situation, "Really? You seemed to be handling yourself well enough."

"Yeah, but it was close, had to throw myself at the floor quite a few times!", at that, she proudly put her hands on her hips and flashed them a heart-stopping smile. _Get. It. Together._

"It looked kind of painful, but seems like you don't care much," he replied, "then again, not really a surprise considering what you tend to get up to in your spare time." 

Hamuko raised an eyebrow "Oh ha-ha. "Feeling funny today, are we?" He couldn't help but smirk at their casual banter and she let out a soft chuckle. 

"Well you do seem to thrive off putting yourself into intense situations", that one was only a half-joke, as he noticed that he'd never seen her so, well, happy? free? energetic? Even though her hair was a mess, single strands escaping her ponytail and he noticed sweat stains on her uniform, she looked radiant. Comfortable, like she was made for this.

"Well, what can I say? A girl needs so- Minato!" Hamuko broke off mid-sentence and sprinted past them. Shinjiro turned around in confusion and saw her envelop a young man in what looked to be a bone-crushing hug. 

"Ew get off me, you stink!" the man exclaimed, fruitlessly trying to wrestle free of her. Hamuko just started giggling and after a few more seconds of tormenting the stranger took a step back. The newcomer was shorter than both Akihiko and himself, not much taller than Hamuko. He couldn't see half of his face as it was almost completely covered by striking black hair, that almost seemed to have a blue sheen. Shinjiro wondered if it was natural or dyed. 

"You see me absolutely crushing it on the court and that's the first thing you say to me? Uh, rude." It was easy to tell from her playful tone that she was joking.

"Gee, alright. You did amazing and I feel honored to have shared the womb with such a goddess of volleyball. Even if compared to her I am but an irrelevant speck of dust, destined to forever stand in her shadow. Better? Good, now go take a shower stinky." She rolled her eyes in fake annoyance but still kept a smile on her face. Shared a womb, though? That guy was probably her brother then. That sure explained her playful attitude towards him. 

"Way better. See you guys in ten. And Minato, don't scare off my friends with your garbo attitude while I'm gone." She flashed them a peace-sign, turned around and jogged off into the direction she just came from.

The young man let out an audible sigh, "Great, now I smell too." After voicing his complaints, he looked over to Akihiko and Shinjiro, seemingly registering their presence for the first time. He threw up one of his hands in a lazy greeting, burrowing the other one in the pocket of his dark blue zipper hoodie, "Hey Akihiko, I didn't know you were going to watch today." 

Akihiko returned the gesture, "Yeah, it was kind of a spontaneous decision," he lightly punched Shinjiro in the shoulder, "The pissy-looking guy is Shinjiro by the way." Before he could retort, the young man answered, "Good to meet you, I'm Minato. Nice of you two to come here and feed my twin's ego."

Shinjiro chose to ignore Akihiko's remark, for now, and answer Minato instead. "She's pretty good though, gotta admit." 

Hamuko's brother scoffed, "True enough, but don't let you hear her say that. I'm the one who has to live with her bragging." The words would have been harsh if not for the amusement that clearly showed in his voice. Even though they looked almost nothing alike, the twins seemed to be similar enough in spirit. From what he could tell, both of them had an apparent sarcastic streak. "How do you know my sister anyways, through Akihiko?" 

"Ah, no," for a brief second Shinjiro considered not telling Minato about the fact that his sister had basically assaulted a guy. What if Hamuko hadn't told her brother about the whole situation and wanted it to remain a secret. They seemed very close though and after thinking back to what she'd told him at Hagakure's, he made his decision, "Drove her to the hospital after she got her hand all fucked up." 

After hearing that statement, something in Minato's expression changed. "You are the car-guy?!", that exclamation left Shinjiro feeling a little uneasy. Apparently, he already had a reputation and judging by the young man's tone, not a particularly good one. Well, nothing new there at least. Minato let out a rather audible sigh and put one of his hands on his forehead in what looked to be frustration. Shinjiro didn't quite know how to react but turned out he didn't have to do anything. "And she said the guy didn't seem shady. Of course."

"What?" He'd spoken up before he could think better of it and his voice was laced with agitation. Minato's eyes snapped up to him, his expression indiscernible. _Fuck._

Thankfully Akihiko broke the tension by breaking into a laughing fit. At Shinjiro's expense. "See, I tell you all the time you look creepy. And have a piss-poor attitude. And that horrible coat makes you look like you sell crack behind the train station." His best friend probably would have continued with his rant, hadn't Shinjiro cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Now shut up." Akihiko fought with himself to stop laughing for a couple more seconds and wiped a single tear away from his eye. Meanwhile, Minato watched them with amusement, hiding his own smile behind one of his hands. Just Great. Did his coat really look that bad though? 

"Anyways, thanks for helping my sister out. She'd never have called an ambulance and would have frozen her ass off on the way to the hospital." After that, the topic was laid to rest and they started talking about more trivial matters instead. Shinjiro noticed that Minato was a man of few words, so between the three of them, Akihiko did most of the talking. Still, he found out that Minato was currently studying Astrophysics at Tatsumi Port Public and that he was sharing a flat with his sister and two other students. One of them being Mitsuru's girlfriend Yukari and the other one Hamuko's best friend since high school who, apparently was "a mess to share a room with" and "couldn't work a dishwasher to save his life". Even though Shinjiro wasn't one to enjoy small talk, usually, he despised it, the whole conversation was comfortable enough. After a few more minutes Hamuko returned, wearing a comfortable looking sweater, her still damp hair up in a ponytail. 

"Am I up to the standards of you sensible nose now?"

"Yeah, Yeah, Now ca- Wait. Is that my sweater?!" Hamuko averted her eyes, looking kind of like a kid that was caught with its hand in the cookie jar. 

"Mayyyyybe..."

"What do you mean "Maybe". I've been looking for this for days!"

Hamuko crossed her hands in front of her, taking on a more defensive stance, "Well it's only fair. Consider it payback for my red shirt you still haven't given back." 

"You are the absolute worst, you know that?"

"Speak for yourself!" Shinjiro just couldn't help but chuckle at their little fight. The pair finally seemed to notice that their banter was drawing attention and quieted down almost immediately. Hamuko's cheeks were slightly pink when she spoke up again, "Anyways, you guys had better not been talking shit about me while I was gone." Minato rolled his eyes and Akihiko threw up his hands in a defensive gesture and said "Never."

"Good. We gotta hustle now," she continued, "But our flatmates and us are probably gonna go drinking to celebrate later this week. You two could come along if you want. I think Yukari is gonna bring Mitsuru anyways." The traitorous feeling in Shinjiro's stomach reared it's ugly head again at the invitation. He wasn't really fun to be around at social gatherings and if it hadn't been for Akihiko he'd probably have fucked up talking to Minato completely. But before he could further consider the situation his best friend was already speaking again.

"Sure we'll come along, right Shinji?", he sounded friendly enough but Shinjiro knew him well enough to know that he actually meant something like "We're going, even if I have to drag your stupid ass there myself." Knowing that it would be unwise to argue Shinjiro just said: "Sure, I've got time." 

He was instantly rewarded with a bright smile from Hamuko. "Really?! That's great. Akihiko I'll text you when we know the details."

"Sounds Good, but do you have Shinji's number, so you can text him too?" There was absolutely no doubt in Shinjiro's head that his best friend knew exactly what he was saying. He wasn't sure if he ought to thank him or rip his head off."

"Ah, right!", Hamuko answered as she was roaming through her gym bag, fishing out a smartphone. Without missing a beat she unlocked it and handed it to Shinjiro. "Do you know your number?" The gesture was executed so casually that he felt all of the awkwardness and his nervousness dissipate. It only took him a split second to find and open the call window to type in his number, but during that short time, he got a look at her wallpaper. It was a selfie of her and Minato wearing cheesy Christmas hats and matching sweaters that said "Chilling with my Ho-Ho-Homie". Both of them were smiling and flashing peace signs at the camera, even though Hamuko seemed to be more enthusiastic about the whole affair. Cute. Kinda. He nodded at her and started typing out his number. When he was done he checked the number and handed the phone back to her. 

After that, they made their way outside the building, said their goodbyes and parted ways. When got a text that evening that simply said "wednesday at tartarus, nine pm. it's hamuko btw." he wondered what exactly he was getting himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, Shinjiro knows he's fucked now. I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter though.
> 
> Thanks again for reading and have a wonderful day!!


	5. Jeans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring alcohol, a realization and a pair of jeans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, here's the new chapter! This got super self-indulgent, but I still like how it turned out, for now at least. 
> 
> Thanks again to Luna for putting up with my ramblings.
> 
> Have fun reading!

Tartarus was a rather small, but comfortable bar. Even though it was already past the time where most people got off work the bar wasn’t bursting at the seams with customers and the atmosphere was rather relaxed. Shinjiro wasn’t an expert, but something sounding like jazz music was playing softly from a speaker and he was nursing his first beer of the night. For now, it was just him, Akihiko, Mitsuru, and her girlfriend, but just a few minutes ago Yukari had cheerfully held up her phone and said that the others were „coming soon“. At the moment, he was casually conversing with his friends, listening in rather than talking. Mitsuru and Yukari were almost sickeningly sweet together. From what he knew they’d been a couple for just over half a year now, but that time had done nothing to put them out of the honeymoon phase. To be fair though, Yukari’d either already had more drinks than the rest of them or just a low tolerance, because she seemed drunk already. Right now she had some fruity cocktail standing in front of her and was absent-mindedly playing with her girlfriend's hair. Mitsuru, on the other hand, seemed as composed and sober as always, sweetly covering one of Yukari’s hands with her own. She was always so put together, most people probably couldn’t even imagine Mitsuru Kirijou drunk. Not Shinjiro though. 

The first time she'd gotten shitfaced, she was 18 and feeling rebellious, Shinjiro had ended up holding her red hair out of the way while she was throwing up. Akihiko had been rubbing her back to comfort her through the whole ordeal. After that, they'd all passed out in Shinjiro's apartment. When his best friend said the next morning: "Be glad you threw it up, Shinji and I are having hangovers like you wouldn't believe right now", she'd looked at him like she was going to murder him right then and there. Even though Mitsuru had, unlike Akihiko and himself, never gotten into an actual fight, she was about the most badass person Shinjiro knew. Needless to say, her legendary icy gaze and sharp tone of voice had promptly shut Akihiko up. In her defense, that was the only time any of the two had ever seen her properly drunk. 

He was ripped out of his musings by an unfamiliar voice yelling "I am **so** ready to get drunk tonight!“ He and probably every other person with functioning hearing looked over to the entrance. There, he caught sight of two familiar figures, Hamuko, her brother and one stranger. Said stranger was obviously the loud one. He was taller than both Minato and Hamuko and sporting a goatee that looked pretty silly in Shinjiro’s opinion. The newcomer was being harshly elbowed in the ribs by Hamuko, while her twin just rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Yukari was, maybe a bit too enthusiastically, waving at the trio and though Minato just casually raised a hand as a greeting, the other two reciprocated the gesture. Where Shinjiro was concerned, it took the trio way too short a time to reach the table. He was trying to think of what to say, thankfully not feeling nearly as nervous as when Akihiko had made him approach Hamuko after the game. Still, he hadn’t really decided what to do about his crush. Usually, his romantic relationships, if he could really call them that, didn’t go past physical attraction and one-night stands. He was a hit it and quit it type of person. Even though Shinjiro was the oldest in his trio of friends, he was the only one who’d never been in a lasting relationship and that didn’t bother him. Usually. Sure, Hamuko was attractive no doubt about it, but that wasn’t the only thing that drew him to her. They somehow, well, vibed. Still, he was unsure if he wanted to act on his feelings or not. Akihiko, that rat, sure was doing everything to-

„Junpei you absolute idiot! Way to go ahead and embarrass us all!“, Yukari snapped him out of his thoughts, not being very mindful of her volume herself. 

„Ah, seems like Yuka has some headway on the alcohol. Ham, we should change that as fast as possible.“ He certainly seemed enthusiastic. 

„I swear to god, if we have to drag your blackout drunk ass home later you’re sleeping on the couch. You’re not vomiting in our bedroom again“, Minato replied, obviously not quite trusting the other man to know his limits.

„Yeah yeah, chill. I won’t overdo it. Besides“, Junpei replied pointing at Yukari, „I'd be watching out for Yukari going overboard with the drinking tonight, not me!“

„Shut it Stupei! We all know your tolerance is shit.“ An argument was already brewing between the two but, thankfully Hamuko stepped in by throwing her arms around Yukari and pulling her into a hug. She whispered something into Yukari’s ear who started to laugh as the tense atmosphere dissipated. 

„Anyways, sorry we’re so late. It took Junpei a solid twenty minutes to find his wallet. However he managed that“, Hamuko casually added as she sat down on the bench next to Yukari, while the two others took the remaining chairs. 

Her twin threw her a look of genuine disbelief. „Are you really surprised about that with the state our room is in? I’m waiting for the day our floor breaks down from the insane amount of trash that’s lying around.“ 

„How’d I know! I don’t go into your room anymore so I don’t inhale whatever toxic mold is probably growing there.“ Yukari started chuckling at the sibling’s exchange but Junpei didn’t seem all that amused about it.

„Oh come on! It isn’t that bad. Stop nagging me about it already.“

„Alright, you’re off the hook for now. But only because I’m gonna get us drinks.“ At that, Junpei visibly relaxed. „Minato, Junpei what do you want?“, she added, having noticed that the drinks of everyone else at the table were still rather full. 

„Beer,“ both of them answered at the same time. Hamuko nodded and started making her way to the bar. They fell back into casual conversation until she came back a few minutes later, three bottles in her hands. Junpei eagerly reached for his and took a hearty swig as soon as she put it on the table. 

„I swear, everyone’s staring at me tonight. Do I have something on my face?“, Hamuko said as she sat down again. Shinjiro looked at her face and found that, no, there was nothing on it. Except maybe a little mascara.

„It’s because your ass looks amazing in those jeans,“ Yukari replied nonchalantly. He was _very_ glad he hadn’t been sipping on his beer at the moment, or Shinjiro might as well have choked on it. 

„Wait are you serious?“, Hamuko sounded genuinely excited for a second, „No, you helped me pick them out so you _have_ to say that.“ Her friend just rolled her eyes at the statement.

„C’ mon bro, I already told you that you look smoking tonight“, Junpei added. Shinjiro would have seconded that, but it hardly seemed appropriate to him. 

„Yeah, but you’re my best friend so you _also_ have to say that.“ 

„Exactly. I’m your best friend, so why would I talk shit to you“, he retorted. Apparently, she wasn’t satisfied with that answer either, because she got up and turned around before saying:“ Minato what do you think? You always tell me the truth about how I look.“ The argument was getting kind of ridiculous, but Shinjiro was too surprised by Haruko's bluntness to be annoyed. Or to look at her butt. Nope, definitely not looking. 

He tore his eyes away and chose to watch his hands instead. Her friends weren’t lying, it was one good pair of jeans. 

„Wha- Ham, you’re my sister. I’m not checking out your ass!“ 

„Oh, come on! It’s not like I’m parading around naked, just tell me if I look good in the damn jeans or not!“ Minato refused again and the twins continued bickering. Until Yukari spoke up.

„What do you think Shinjiro?“

Okay, so either Aki had snitched to Mitsuru, who had, in turn, told her girlfriend, or that woman was a straight up psychic. A cruel psychic. Though, Shinjiro didn’t have the time to ponder it, because everyone at the table was looking at him now. He must’ve looked kind of shocked because he saw his own best friend barely contain a laugh. _Asshole_. He had about two seconds left to procure an answer that didn’t make him sound like a massive jerk. Good thing he always did so well in situations like this. Not. But he was running out of time, even though the seconds stretched into eternity in his head, so he put on his best poker face and said: “Yeah, the jeans look good on you.“ 

Not his smoothest line ever, but apparently good enough because a wide smile spread across Hamuko’s face. „Hell fucking yeah! They were way too expensive to look bad.“ 

„Now that that’s out of the way can you please sit down again“, her brother added. She didn’t seem to mind his tone of voice and did just that. Yukari raised her glass, swaying a little and almost spilling its contents across the table and said: „To jeans!“

The rest of the group, himself included followed Yukari’s lead and repeated the toast. Under the table, Shinjiro kicked his best friend in the shin.

—

Hamuko was drunk. Kind of. Not „I’m gonna climb this fence that’s the best idea ever“ drunk, or „the room is spinning and I’ll probably puke“ drunk. Simply a little buzzed. The dim lights, soft music, and company of her friends made her feel relaxed. Not to mention that she was still happy about the whole jeans thing. She wasn’t skinny like Yukari or her girlfriend who, in all honesty, could have been models. Or pretty like her brother with his stupid, perfect hair and dark eyes. Why couldn’t she have won out on the genetic lottery? Hamuko hated to admit it, but she still felt insecure about her appearance sometimes, so getting a compliment from someone who wasn’t one of her closest friends felt nice. December and her paycheck had rolled around just three days before and at first, she’d felt guilty about spending a sizable amount of it on a pair of pants. Now, however, she was quite happy with her investment. She lifted her glass to take another sip but noticed it was empty. Crap. 

„So are we going to play cards or not?“ Akihiko’s voice brought her out of her thoughts and back into the present. 

„Yeah, but Shinjiro's still outside smoking,“ Junpei replied. He’d met her newest friend for the first time today and their different personalities had already resulted in some interesting bits of conversation. She smiled inwardly.

„I’m gonna go get him. He’s bound to freeze his ass off soon if he doesn’t come back,“ she told them and made her way to the door. Getting up she was hit with a slight wave of dizziness. Maybe the alcohol hit harder than she’d thought after all. The fresh air would be good for her. 

Shinjiro wasn’t hard to find. That was great because as soon as she stepped on the street Hamuko realized that she’d forgotten to put on her jacket. Well, Whatever. She wouldn’t be long anyway. Out of politeness, he wasn’t smoking directly in front of Tartarus, but a few meters away from the entrance of the bar. Still, the street lanterns provided enough light for him to be plainly visible. 

„Smoking is bad for your health, you know?“ Hamuko said as she approached him, a healthy dose of sarcasm in her voice. 

He turned around and simply raised an eyebrow. „So is freezing to death. What are you doing out here?“ 

She let out a chuckle as she walked up and took her place next to him. „We wanna play cards so I came to get you. And don’t worry about me. I don’t get cold easily. I’m hot-blooded.“

„You don’t say“, he answered. His voice just as full of sarcasm as her own. Hamuko crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in fake annoyment. „What’s that look for? I saw you punch a guy’s nose in so, no shit, you’re hot-blooded.“

She playfully jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. „Hey! Technically you didn’t see me punch him.“

„Yeah, but I was the one who had to deal with the aftermath. You said you were gonna buy me a drink for that, by the way.“

„Which is another reason to come back inside“, she retorted without missing a beat. 

„Just let me finish that one first, okay?“ He held up a lit cigarette, the smoke trailing behind it like an echo. 

„No problemo. I just hope my friends haven’t scared you off yet. We can be a pretty, well, intense group.“

Shinjiro gave her a small laugh. „For real. Takes more than that to get rid of me though.“ It made Hamuko happy that he and her friends seemed to get along. She felt comfortable around him, so she wanted him to feel comfortable with what was basically her family. Even though it was a hot mess of a family. In all honesty, though, she knew she seemed like an open and energetic person, which was true to an extent, but it usually took Hamuko quite a while before she could truly relax in the presence of another person. Hell, she hadn’t been able to stand Junpei for their entire first year of high school and it’d taken a long time for Yukari and her to warm up to each other. 

It wasn’t like this with Shinjiro though. Maybe because he’d already seen her in one of her less glorious moments, to put it nicely. She looked over to him, standing in the dim light. The cold made her move closer to him instinctively, she hadn’t even noticed. The cigarette was getting shorter, but she figured it would still be a few more minutes. Hamuko found that she didn’t mind. The silence was comfortable and she-

Oh. _Oh_. She was crushing on this guy, wasn’t she? Butterflies started to rise in her stomach, delicate but full of life and she knew it was true. 

As if on cue Shinjiro looked at her „If you’re cold you could have told me“

„I’m not- I mean you’re almost done anyways.“ Hamuko prayed that she didn’t sound as flustered as she felt. She’d have enough time to ponder her feelings tomorrow, no need to freak out about it now. 

He sighed and shook his head. „Idiot“, Shinjiro said in a playful tone before putting out his cigarette against the sole of his boot and throwing it into a nearby trashcan. „Let’s go back inside before you catch your death.“

She couldn’t help but smile. „Yeah, let’s go.“ 

Together they made their way back inside the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that both of them have accepted their crushes, I can get this story rolling. Also, I know that there were a lot of missed opportunities for tropes in this chapter, but I tried to keep this one as natural as possible and there will probably be some cheesy stuff in this story sooner or later. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, see you next chapter!


	6. In which one of them succeeds and the other fails miserably

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in the same week?? A miracle. 
> 
> Have fun reading and if you have anything to say, leave a comment, they always absolutely make my day!
> 
> Also I draw so if you ever wanna check that out I'm @ tiredveena on twitter

Hamuko was lounging on the couch, her hair spread all around her in a messy auburn halo instead of the usual ponytail. She was wearing two different socks and a combination of sweatpants and a hoodie that matched badly, but she didn’t plan on leaving the house today, so fuck it. Sundays were made for looking like a hobo. A bunch of papers lay discarded on her lap while the young woman was absent-mindedly scrolling through her messages for the third time in five minutes. Studying was obviously going well. Hamuko sighed in frustration and put the phone back on the coffee table, giving it a slight push away for her for good measure. The material wasn’t going to memorize itself, no matter how desperately she wanted it to. Staring at the wall for a few hours seemed like a solid alternative to studying right now though. For some reason, she just couldn’t concentrate today. Some reason being Shinjiro Aragaki. When she woke up the night after they all went to Tartarus together, she tried to blame her previous drunkenness for the warm feeling that had spread in her chest just a few hours ago. When it didn’t vanish all day she told herself she was just overreacting. This morning however there was no denying what she’d known all along. Her feelings were real. She hadn’t crushed on anyone for quite a while. Not really anyway. With butterflies and everything. Hamuko rolled over on one side, the small pile of papers gently sliding to the floor, and curled up into a ball. No better way to face life than in a fetal position. She didn’t usually get flustered like this. Hell, she never got flustered like this. 

„Wow, looks like your cramming session is going even worse than mine usually do. Respect.“ She’d been so lost in her own thoughts, Hamuko hadn’t even noticed her friend entering the living room. It couldn’t be past noon and Junpei’s sleeping schedule was so disastrous, she couldn’t think of a reason why he’d be awake already. Still, she was glad for the company. 

„Kill me if that ever happens“, she casually replied, not bothering to hide whatever feelings were influencing her tone of voice. Her best friend had seen her in worse states than grumpy and terribly dressed so there wasn’t any reason to play pretend. Junpei chose to ignore her comment and walked right past the sofa into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Hamuko was somehow managing to pick up all of the papers without leaving her comforting cocoon, but getting her phone back proved to be more difficult. Her fingers were just a few centimeters shy of the device, but she just couldn’t bring herself to get up. 

Thankfully, Junpei came to the rescue. With his free hand, the other one was holding a bowl full of dry cereal, he picked up Hamuko’s phone and handed it over as he sat down on the couch next to her. 

„Seriously though, are you okay? Usually, you’re all business when it comes to uni.“ She didn’t quite know how to answer, because, yes, she was okay. In theory. While she was still thinking about what to say, Junpei’d already started eating his late breakfast. Cereal without milk. Classic.

„Yeah, I am. Just… “, Hamuko paused for a second, „Undecided, I guess.“

„Thinking about texting him, huh?“ A bystander would probably have been shocked at the accuracy of Junpei’s statement, but not her. Even though he seemed like a huge idiot to most people, and in their defense, was just that from time to time, he was also incredibly caring. Not to mention they’d known each other for years, so the fact that he’d picked up on her feelings didn’t exactly come as a surprise.

Instead of properly replying, the young woman just let out a big sigh, leaving interpreting it up to her friend. For a short while, the only sound in the room was the crunching noise made by the lazily thrown together meal as Junpei bit down on it. 

„I think you should do it“, her friend continued. Hypocrite. When it came to situations like that, he was the biggest coward of them all. As a response, Hamuko just groaned. „Bro, I mean it. You looked real happy after talking to him outside. Or… did _something else_ happen out there.“ Junpei wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and she couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. 

Hamuko playfully kicked her best friend in the legs before sitting up and next to him and saying,“ No, it didn’t.“ 

„Lame! I always thought you had more game than that.“ A smile spread across her face at his teasing, but before she could come up with a snarky response he added, “But you wish it did, don’t you?“ Whatever thought had been forming in her brain slipped away, her cheeks turning pink. Images of herself and Shinjiro outside of Tartarus flashed through her mind. Images in which they weren’t talking. Mentally Hamuko was slapping herself before directing her attention back to her friend. She refused to fantasize about making out in the moonlight with a guy she’d met only a couple of times. She wasn’t some teenaged girl experiencing her first crush. 

„I don’t even know if he’s single“, she said to Junpei, her voice laced with frustration. 

„C’mon. Now you’re just looking for reasons not to text him.“ Touché. Not that she’d admit it though. The way Junpei was looking at her told Hamuko he wouldn’t just let her off the hook. Hell, she wouldn’t let herself off the hook. Defeated, she played around with the protective case of her phone for a few seconds before unlocking it. Well, there goes.

Figuring out what to write was a challenge. She went through several greetings, typing them out and deleting them again, before settling on something she was remotely satisfied with. Not too formal, but also not too specifically familiar. Still, it needed to warrant a reply. After assembling the words, however, she stood before the eternal dilemma of whether or not to include an emoji. She didn’t want to come off as cold, but even a simple one could change the tone of a conversation completely. Moments stretched into a minute, then into minutes as she whacked her brain. This needed to stop. She was Hamuko _fucking_ Arisato and she was not going to put more effort into a simple text than an entire official e-mail. Her thumb hit send before her brain could stress out about it even more. There, done. Next to her, Junpei started clapping enthusiastically.

„Hell Yeah! Go get that.“ 

She just rolled her eyes at him, stifling a laugh, picked up her papers from the table and decided to get back to business.

—

The pile of ashes in the small glass tray was steadily growing as Shinjiro’s cigarette was getting shorter. Action and Consequence. Smoking and running out of cigs. Which was bound to happen if he continued on at his current pace. Right now, he was on his fourth in a time way too short to warrant that number. It was like he needed the nicotine to think, or, depending on the situation, not think. Today was a mix of both. He was trying not to think, but every time he let his mind wander off it returned, without fail, to Hamuko Arisato. _Goddamn._

He didn’t do crushes. Or mooning over someone like a lovestruck idiot. Hell, he didn’t even do friendship in most cases. Which lead right back to the problem his mind had been circling around all morning: Hamuko, and the fact that she was entirely too good for him. She was so energetic and open and funny in a way that got to him, but also thoroughly unafraid. Bold. Courageous even. All while she was somehow balancing university, a job, and training for a team that was trying to make it to nationals. Him? He was a high school dropout who cooked soup in a tiny kitchen for a living and didn’t have any real hobbies since he’d stopped getting into fights behind the train station. _Almost_ stopped. Shinjiro was a mess and he damn well knew it. So did everyone else. The sad remains of his cigarette were put out as it had burned down to almost nothing and he barely stopped himself from lighting up another one. He’d come to terms with destroying his lungs, but not today. The temperature in the small living room was dropping by the minute, December air infiltrating his home, but he’d have to air it out for a little while before closing the window. He didn’t really mind the cold though. It somehow fit his home. The walls were bare, except for some stains and smears of dirt he hadn’t bothered to paint over when he’d moved in. The shabby looking couch he’d only gotten at Akihiko’s insistence, „You can’t have an apartment and then put nothing in it!“, was one of the few pieces of furniture in the room, besides a small table and old TV. There were some shelves, but Shinjiro hadn’t really bothered unpacking most of his stuff, so they were filled with boxes instead of proof that someone was actually inhabiting the place. He didn’t even own a lampshade, the naked lightbulb dangling from the ceiling casting cold light throughout the living room. He didn't even have a real attachment to the place. If the situation called for it, he could grab his things and be gone within hours. Someone else probably wouldn't even consider it a real home and, if he was being honest, neither did Shinjiro. Pathetic. At least he kept it clean.

His mind wandered again. Hamuko’s home was probably the complete opposite. Warm and inviting and full of life, just like her. He imagined a chaotic mix of mismatched furniture and a ridiculous collection of cushions on a couch. In her room, the walls were probably decorated with pictures and posters and photographs. Signs of life everywhere. She probably had some sickeningly sweet plushies on her bed too, remnants of a childhood past, she just seemed like the type. And cute bedsheets. With a floral print or maybe polka dots. Something he usually couldn’t be bothered to give a shit about. She’d be sitting at a desk, studying, her eyebrows drawn together in concentration. Or maybe she was taking it easy, lounging on her bed and- he needed to stop this shit right now. 

Yeah, he knew he had it bad, but this was getting ridiculous. Especially since Shinjiro had just decided to just let the crush run it’s course until it passed. Like a fever. It would be for the better.

Still, he just wasn’t able to ban recurring thoughts about Wednesday night from his mind. When Hamuko had come looking for him outside there had been one moment where she’d looked at him like, well, like there was something between them. She’d seemed cold and at that moment he’d wanted nothing more than to pull her close. That was a lie. In reality, he’d been close to throwing his self-control out of the window and kissing her then and there. She must’ve been wearing some kind of lipgloss because her lips looked pink and soft and perfect. Perfectly kissable. 

Fuck. He was doing it again. Shinjiro knew he needed to stop thinking about her before he started to care too much. To get attached to her. He wasn’t a good person, by anyone's standards. Instead, he was cold and unkind and preferred not to talk to people at all because it usually just caused trouble. Trouble he tended to solve with his fists. He didn’t know any other way, never having bothered to learn one. Akihiko was his best friend, for fuck's sake, and they’d still beaten each other to a pulp on multiple occasions. And what made all if it even worse, the state of his life hadn’t even bothered Shinjiro. Not until now. 

He groaned in frustration. None of it mattered anyway. Later he’d go to work, distract himself with the repetitive task of cooking the same thing again and again and again. The next day he would do it all over. And the day after that. Shinjiro resigned to distracting himself with the mess that was his life until he finally stopped thinking about her. Until he forgot the shape of her face and the tone of her voice. Over the years he’d mastered closing himself off, it wouldn’t take long for everything to go back to normal. Not a normal he liked, but the only one he knew. 

His phone vibrated, indicating a new text message. Shinjiro could have sworn that he’d put it on mute. If it was Akihiko again he would- Oh.

The single text message that had popped up on the screen wasn’t from his friend at all, but the very person he was trying so hard not to think about. Shit. _Shit shit shit._

„hey, how’s it going?“, it read. 

Where Shinjiro was concerned, it was going disastrously. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was all wrong. Hamuko wasn’t supposed to try and talk to him, because it made him absolutely unsure of what to do. The wall he’d been meticulously building over the past few minutes was absolutely shattered the second he’d read the words. Concrete to dust. Agitated, he threw his phone away onto the couch. Better to get as much distance as he could. He’d made his decision already, no changing it now. There were no walls that couldn’t be rebuilt, so Shinjiro left the room and set out to do just that.

It took a little over twenty minutes before he gave up on it and answered the message.


	7. Pages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinjiro pays Hamuko a surprise visit at Bookworms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams are over so we're back in business with this hot mess of a fic. Thanks to everyone who stuck around and left kudos and comments, it lights up my days more than you can imagine. Anyways, this chapter features a favourite trope of mine, I hope you enjoy!

It was just past five thirty pm on a rather cloudy and grey December day. The dark clouds that hung low in the sky already gave away the oncoming shower and the humidity made the cold even more unbearable. Ten seconds outside and fingers and toes would already be freezing, despite boots and mittens. Shit weather, in other words. Business at Bookworms was slow that day, but in all honesty, when wasn't it. Bunkichi and Mitsuko had already retired to their little flat on the second floor of the same building, leaving Hamuko in charge. Not that there was anything to take charge of at the moment. She could count the number of people that had, miraculously, found their way to the tiny shop during her shift on one hand. Being honest, she couldn't wrap her mind around how the old couple managed to keep Bookworms open while spending the meager profits on hiring another employee, namely herself. Not that she was going to complain about it. Mitsuko and Bunkichi were extremely sweet and, despite their advanced age, fun to talk to. More often than not, they'd bring her melon pan or other snacks during break and whenever she tried to refuse they just said, "If you're not going to eat it, give it to your brother. That child is too skinny." The old couple was, essentially, the grandparents Hamuko had never gotten to know. The work itself wasn't bad either. Being surrounded by the subtle smell of books was soothing and the store was almost like an oasis of silence within the busy mall. Not to mention that when there weren't any customers, which unavoidably happened on every single one of her shifts, Hamuko was free to read whatever book caught her eye. Considering that, as a literature student, she usually had to read whatever the curriculum demanded, picking something just for herself was heaven. Today though, the letters and words crept by slowly, like crippled soldiers and the pages didn’t turn at the pace they usually did. It wasn’t the fault of the books or it’s contents. The story was compelling enough, the writing had style but her mind wasn't keeping up. It kept drifting towards trivial things like which kind of cereal to buy on her way home or whether or not to cram another study session into what would be left of the day after closing up the shop. No matter how hard she tried, concentration kept eluding her. Admitting defeat, the young employee closed the worn book with a sigh and stuffed it into her backpack. There were less than thirty minutes left before the end of the workday, Hamuko would make it through. 

Without really thinking about it she fished her smartphone out of the front pocket of the hoodie she was wearing, a gesture so often performed that it didn't need her conscious effort to execute itself. Being on the phone during work wasn't exactly good etiquette, but since nobody was there to witness her disregard to the unspoken rule, she pressed the wake-up button on the side of the device and proceeded to check her messages. Hamuko had never been into social media that much, only having gotten Instagram at Yukari's continued insistence, so there wasn't a lot to check for. There were some new messages in the group chat for her literature classes, but nothing more. _Fun._ She was about to put her phone back and prepare herself to suffer the boredom in silence when it vibrated indicating a new message. When she saw who it was from, her heart did a tiny summersault.

[From Shinjiro]: what are you up to?

It was rare for Shinjiro to text her first, even though over the last week and a half he'd gotten more talkative. Their conversations were lighthearted with a tinge of sarcasm, covering trivial things like missing the bus or making dinner. They didn't feel superficial or shallow, even though the topics they revolved around were. Hamuko wasn't sure whether to blame that on her infatuation with him or if they actually vibed. It seemed like the latter one, but there was no way to be sure. More aptly put, it was a bitch of a situation. She quickly typed out a reply, thankful that her brain had stopped panicking and overthinking every little detail about two days into their shared conversations. Hamuko was honestly glad to be past worrying about which emoji to send or how long to wait before texting back at all. Crush or no crush, being back to their relaxed way of bantering felt good. It felt right.

 

[To Shinjiro]: counting the seconds until my shift ends, you?

[From Shinjiro]: the opposite, there is something wrong with the power in our damn building, so i had to close up shop for now.

[To Shinjiro]: ugh, lucky

[From Shinjiro]: not really. i’m kind of out of a job until shit gets fixed

[To Shinjiro]: shit ://

[From Shinjiro]: yeah. you want company?

Hamuko couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face or the butterflies that started to riot within her stomach at the text. A second late she was mentally slapping herself. She couldn’t allow herself to read to much into such a simple gesture. After all, Shinjiro’s workplace wasn’t five minutes away from Bookworms. He’d unexpectedly gotten off work and a friend was coincidentally in the same area. That was all. Still, the offer was more than welcome, especially taking into account her soul-crushing boredom. Considering for a second, Hamuko figured that nobody would mind her having a friend over since it was almost closing time and she didn’t expect another customer anyways. Fingers ghosted over the screen of the smartphone as she typed out her answer.

[To Shinjiro]: sure thing!

There, done. No more stressing out over it. 

When the door opened less than five minutes later, her nervousness had dissipated almost completely. They hadn’t met since their night out in Tartarus, but seeing Shinjiro enter the bookstore, it felt like they hadn’t been apart for more than a day. He was wearing that goofy coat of his, hands shoved into the pockets, nose slightly red from the cold. 

„This place is unreal“, he said, raising one hand as a greeting, his eyes roaming the room in wonder. She’d witnessed that reaction many times before, but it was still heartwarming every time it happened. 

„Hello to you too.“, she replied, returning the gesture. „And yeah, being in here almost feels like being thrown back in time ten years.“ The atmosphere of Bookworms tended to throw new customers off, in the best way possible. Every time she was there it felt like taking a miniature vacation from reality. 

„More like twenty. But it’s nice in here. Finally some damn quiet.“ 

„Tough day, huh?“, she teased.

Shinjiro scoffed. „Tell me about it.“ He paused for a second, walking up to her and leaning against the counter. „No offense, but is business always this slow?“

„Yep. Most of the time it’s just me, myself and I. Not that it bothers me though, at least usually it doesn’t. Gives me time to get some reading done myself.“ 

He raised an eyebrow „You read a lot?“

„Hmm, yeah. I suppose so. Why, you don’t sound too convinced.“ 

„Well, you just always seem so energetic, it’s kinda hard imagining you sitting around with a book.“

„Are you saying I look stupid? I’ll have you know I’m a literature student.“, she bit back, her voice heavy with humorous sarcasm. Still, a look of surprise flashed across his face as his cheeks turned a shade pinker. Was he actually blushing?! This was way too much fun. 

„I- ah-“, he began, stuttering, „That’s not what I meant Idiot.“ Upon seeing him this flustered, Hamuko couldn’t suppress the fit of giggles that escaped her. „What’s so fucking funny!“, he choked out, clearly embarrassed. 

„Don’t worry about it you big doof, I was teasing“, she managed to get out in between laughs. „Seems like we both have a hidden side then. I like some quiet time and you’re actually a big softie.“

At that he, crossed his arms, looking her straight in the eyes. „I’d watch what I was saying, you’re on mighty thin ice there Hamuko.“ To anyone else, the act might have looked convincing, but she wasn’t fooled in the slightest. She was about to throw a snarky comeback at him when she realized; for the first time, he’d called her by her name. And she didn’t mind. Actually, Hamuko liked it quite a lot. Realizing that more than a few seconds had passed, she snapped herself out of it.

„Anyways, do you like reading?“ Wow. Real smooth.

„I guess so? I don’t read a lot though, it’s not like I know what’s good.“ 

That got her thinking. Recommending books based on what she knew about the person was one of her favorite parts of the job and even though Shinjiro wasn’t technically a customer she was already thinking of what would fit him. Nothing too long, he seemed busy, but still something with a deeper meaning. Not too dark or depressing though. 

„You okay there?“ Oh. She’d totally spaced out.

„Yeah, don’t worry! I was just thinking about what kind of book you might like.“ Great. Now she probably looked like some airheaded reading fanatic.

„Really? Well, what’s your rec for me then.“ She considered for a second longer. He seemed genuine, not mocking her at all. Kind. Instantly, a book came to mind. She nodded and stepped out from behind the counter, past him and towards one of the myriad shelves. The books were only very roughly sorted, but she knew the position of each and every one of them. Raising up on her tiptoes, she strained to reach a small book right on top of the shelf, but her fingers were a few centimeters shy of her goal. _Just a little higher. Come on._ Another, larger hand grabbed the book and pulled it out from in between the others before she had the chance to.

„Is it this one?“ Shinjiro was standing behind her, book in hand. Every answer that was forming on the tip of her tongue died away as she turned around and noticed how close they were to each other. Too close. For a second, all she could do was stare at him in surprise. He met her gaze, unwavering. Time ground to a halt within the tiny store, none of them saying as much as a single word. She’d fallen into his grey eyes, lost within them and, judging by how he was looking at her, the same had happened to Shinjiro. They’d instinctively moved closer, drawn to each other like magnets. The distance between them had grown so small, they were breathing the same air. Just a little bit closer, and there wouldn’t be any of that between them at all. 

Then a look of understanding dawned on Shinjiro’s face and time resumed its flow. Flustered, he took a step back, instantly breaking eye-contact. God, she hoped she wasn’t blushing. 

„Y-Yeah, that’s it.“ she said, barely stopping her voice from pitching an octave higher.

Meanwhile, Shinjiro had taken to studying the book. Wasn’t he fazed by this in the slightest? No, that couldn’t be it, she’d seen the look on his face after all. 

„The Little Prince, huh?“ The skepticism was apparent and a look of scrutiny flashed across his face as he flipped through the pages. „This has pictures in it, are you seriously recommending me a children’s book?“

Now _that_ served to snap Hamuko out of her daze. „It isn’t a children’s book just because it has pictures in it, dummy! You can’t just judge a book by it’s cover like that, give it a chance, at least.“ He nodded, seemingly taken aback by her sudden ferocity. 

„Alright, I’ll bite. How much is it?“ She led him back to the cash register and scanned the barcode.

„Good choice. I’ll even let you use my employee’s discount.“

„You get a discount?“

„I do now“, she answered and, feeling brave, threw him a wink. After the transaction was complete, she handed over the book, which was swiftly stowed away in Shinjiro’s bag. „Oh, by the way, don’t be surprised if there are some notes and highlighted passages in there. It used to be mine before I gave it to the store.“ She hadn’t even considered that fact before she picked it out to him. It was a little embarrassing to imagine that her thoughts on the text were in there, for him to see. It also felt weirdly, well… intimate. 

„It is a second-hand store, after all, so don’t worry about it“, he replied casually. „I don’t know for sure when, but I’ll start on it as soon as I get the chance.“

„Great, tell me what you think about it when you’re through!“

„I will, but I’m not sure if I can meet your lit student criteria on debating.“ This time it was his turn adding sarcasm to his statement. 

„Shinjiro Aragaki“, she began, voice heavily laden with fake indignation, „Could it be that, perhaps, you are fucking with me?“ All the question did was earn her a playful laugh from him, which she promptly matched with her own. Their playful banter was interrupted by the deafening sound of thunder penetrating the walls of the bookstore. „Sounds like that storm is finally coming in, huh? I can close up shop now, so we should probably get going before we get caught in it.“ Hamuko wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the end of their little hang-out, but getting surprised by a shower in the middle of December was an even worse prospect. She didn't even have an umbrella with her. Five minutes later they were standing in front of the store as she was turning the key in the lock.

It was at that moment that the storm hit in full force.


	8. Seventh Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Together, they weather the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one turned out toothrotting-ly sweet so I apologize in advance. Also, I don't know about the exact number of chapters that are still to come, but we've made it to about the midway point! Once again, thanks for sticking around and especially for your kind comments.

_Fucking wonderful._

It felt like only seconds after Hamuko and he had left the protective walls of Bookworms, the wind picked up and the rain started coming down with an intense force. Someone up there really had it out for him, huh? 

„Are you kidding me right now?!“ Hamuko’s voice was laced with an undeniable frustration. The icy drops of water had already started hitting her, leaving tiny, dark stains on her coat. „Well, what now?“, she stuttered, clearly shivering from the cold. What now, indeed. At the moment they were at least partially protected by how the strip mall was laid out, but he had no doubt that the second they stepped out onto the open street, they’d be drenched. He didn’t even have an umbrella with him, not that it would have helped with how strong the wind was blowing. 

„I live less than five minutes from here, you can come over and wait out the storm there if you want.“ The words left his mouth before his brain had the time to process them. What the fuck was he doing? First the visit and now he was inviting her into his apartment? Just what the hell was wrong with him today. He probably seemed like a major creep right now. 

„Really?! That would be great! I don’t think I’d make it home before catching my death.“ Out of all the possible answers to his proposition he certainly hadn’t expected this one. Still, she had a point and a damn good one at that. Regardless of how Shinjiro felt about having her in his home, leaving her to the storm seemed like a dick move. 

„’Course, or else I wouldn’t have asked“, he replied, sounding a bit more gruff than intended. Upon hearing his answer, her eyes lit up, probably from relief. He had to muster all of his willpower not to lose himself in them again like he’d done in the shop just minutes before. He hadn’t meant to get all up in her face like that, but after realizing how close they’d been to each other everything else had come to a standstill. She’d given him that intense look of hers and, for a second, he’d been ready to fuck the consequences and just kiss her. That woman had no idea what she was doing to him. A particularly cruel gust of December wind reminded him of their current situation. Standing around wouldn’t do them any good, so he spoke up again.

„If we run this shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, just follow me. You ready?“

She gave him both thumbs up, a gesture way too enthusiastic for such a shitty situation, but at the same time, it was so _her_. Before his thoughts could spiral down Hamuko road again, he gave her a nod, to indicate he was ready. Together they moved through the relentless rain, their feet splashing up water that was already pooling on the ground. As he’d predicted the cold and moisture infiltrated his coat only seconds after they left the protection of the mall. This was bullshit. At least it wasn’t gonna be much longer. The way to his apartment seemed an impossible amount longer, every second weathering the storm dragging on twice as long. By the time they arrived at his building, cold and out of breath, the pair was so wet they were dripping onto the floor. Shinjiro hoped his landlord wouldn’t be on his ass for that. 

As he was unlocking the door, the lock making a clicking noise for every turn of the key, a strange nervousness overcame him. His place was absolutely fucking pathetic. Shinjiro found that he didn’t want her to see the evidence of his closed-off lifestyle, once again thinking that she deserved so much better than that. Better than him and his messed up past. A past he hadn’t even come to terms with himself. Still, he couldn’t exactly leave her standing out in the hall, the girl was basically shivering like a leaf in the wind. 

„I gotta warn you, my place ain’t nothing special“, he settled instead. The door slowly creaked open. He sure as hell wasn’t ready to let her in, physically and emotionally, not that he’d admit it, but there was no use bitching about it now. 

„Don’t worry about it. You should see my flat, it’s pandemonium over there right now.“ Just like that, she dispelled all and any barriers surrounding him, protective or otherwise. She was way too good at it, slipping past his defenses. 

The door slowly creaked open and, one after another, they stepped into the small apartment. First order of business was taking their shoes off, lest they flood the entire place. After that was done, Shinjiro told her to wait a second and went off in search of some towels, unavoidably dripping muddy rainwater onto the floor in the process. Standing in his entranceway, the two toweled themselves off before truly entering the small home. Shinjiro threw the wet jackets into the dryer, for the first time glad he owned one, and rejoined Hamuko in the living room. She just stood there, so out of place in the otherwise drab room, while the heavy rain made it's sounds against the windows. It occurred to him, that he had absolutely no clue what to do next. She still looked cold though, red cheeks and nose in contrast to pale skin.

„You still cold? I can make tea if you want.“

„That would be great, thanks!“

Standing in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil, Shinjiro wondered just what exactly he’d gotten himself into. Pouring the hot liquid into the mugs, watching as it slowly changed its color he couldn’t help the worry that was slowly seeping into his gut. Worry of making the wrong impression. Worry of pushing her away. Worry of keeping her close. He wanted two things at once, at odds with himself. For now, he’d focus on the tea. When he walked back into the living room, Hamuko had already seated herself on the couch, curled up like a small animal, arms slung around her knees. When he handed her the steaming mug, she clutched it tightly, trying to savor the warmth in every form it came. She opened her mouth, presumably to thank him, but Shinjiro cut her off.

„If you’re still cold you could've said something.“ Before she could answer, he’d walked off again, this time to his bedroom. A few seconds later he came back, blanket in tow. As he silently held it out to her, Hamuko flashed him one of her smiles. A smile that warmed him up from the inside, like a tiny sun. _Fuck,_ he really had it bad. Picking up his own mug from the wooden boxes that served as a couch table, he sat down next to her. _Now what?_

„Thanks, I really was about to freeze. You know, you’re really not as much of a tough guy as you always pretend to be. It’s nice.“ She sounded so… honest. It threw him off. „How long have you been living here, by the way?“ 

„A few years, why?“, he answered, glad that she was carrying the conversation.

„Because you still have boxes standing all over the place! Don’t tell me you haven’t unpacked in all those years.“ Thankfully, her voice sounded more amused than accusatory. „You want me to help you? With unpacking I mean. I know how annoying it can be, honestly if Minato and Junpei hadn’t helped me with it my stuff would probably still be in boxes too.“ The offer sounded so genuine, Shinjiro found he couldn’t turn her away.

„Sure, but not today. Storm’s got me all exhausted.“

„God, same here. I feel like I’m about to pass out any second.“

For a while they just sat there, in comfortable silence, sipping on the hot tea. Shinjiro was warming up, literally and figuratively, and for once, he didn’t mind. He could get used to this. When Hamuko released her still slightly damp hair from the ponytail it was pulled into, he had to force himself not to stare. It was so much longer than he thought it to be and the way it caught the light and reflected it in warm tones was mesmerizing. It was starting to curl up into both, soft waves and the occasional irregular curl. He wanted to run his hands through it. 

„ **Oh my god** , is that a Gamecube!“ Hamuko’s excited shout came so sudden, he almost dropped his mug. 

„Yeah. It’s Aki’s, though. He left it here because he doesn’t own a TV.“

„That’s so cool! You wanna play?“ 

The only times he’d ever used the console was together with Akihiko, back when his sister was still alive. Even then the two siblings had been more interested in it than him. Still, trying it again couldn’t hurt. „Sure, but I don’t even know what’s in there right now.“ 

„Well, whatever it is, I’m sure I can beat your ass at it“, she replied in a cheerful tone. 

„Really, now? Well let’s see then“, he answered her challenge, without missing a beat. 

Booting up the console, it turned out the game currently resting in the disc reader was a copy of Mario Kart, which only served to fuel Hamuko’s readiness for battle. They exchanged playful remarks about beating the other all the way through the character select screen, all of the heaviness and problems of adult life fading away. When they actually started the race, it turned out that Hamuko was more than a little rusty at the game, and since Shinjiro could count the times he’d played it on one hand, the ended up competing for seventh place instead of first. It was fun nevertheless.

„Aragaki you better not hit me with that shell _or so god help me_.“

„Oh, really? What are you gonna do about it, break my nose too?“

„I just might if you don’t watch it!“

They went back and forth like that for hours, the time melting away like a popsicle on a smelting summer day. When the two were done, it had long since stopped raining and the sun had set, leaving only night behind. Neither one of them mentioned it, mutually acknowledging the fact that they didn’t want their time together to end. Instead, they made some more tea, Hamuko joining him in the kitchen this time around, and turned on the tv, mindlessly watching whatever program was on. A few minutes into some overly dramatic action movie, Shinjiro heard soft snoring from next to him. Hamuko had fallen asleep, her head resting on the couch’s backrest, her expression one of absolute tranquility. He couldn’t bring himself to wake her. Deciding to let her nap for a few more minutes, the young man let himself sink into the couch. Sleep overtook him so quickly, he didn’t even notice.

—

Ouch. The first thing he noticed upon waking up, was a pain in his back. _What the hell?_ Opening his eyes, he almost jumped in surprise. Hamuko’s sleeping form was still there, next to him, but she’d moved slightly so that her head was resting on his shoulder. Right, they’d fallen asleep on the damn sofa, like idiots. Glancing out of the window, he noticed it was already light out. That couldn’t be. He never slept for more than three hours at a time, always waking for a few hours in between. But a look at the clock on the wall confirmed the impossible, he’d actually slept through the night. Reluctantly, he shook Hamuko awake. Chances were high she had somewhere to be and, granted the power had been fixed over at Hagakure, so did he. 

„Wha- oh. Good morning“, she said, her voice laced with sleep, looking more than a little disoriented. The young woman slowly got up, bones creaking in a matter that suggested he wasn’t the only one with back pain right now. „Ugh, what time is it?“

„Just past eight“, Shinjiro answered his own voice heavy with sleep. At that, the relaxed look fled from her face just to be instantly replaced by one of urgency.

„Crap! I have a lecture in less than an hour. Stupid morning class.“ She immediately started straightening out her clothes and pulling her hair back into the usual ponytail. „I should probably call my brother and let him know I’m not dead in a ditch somewhere. Ugh, he’s gonna kill me!“ Even though he knew it wasn’t appropriate considering her distress, Shinjiro couldn’t stop himself from letting a laugh slip. Thankfully, instead of getting mad, she relaxed a little, returning the gesture. 

„Sorry, I shoulda woken you up when I noticed you’d fallen asleep.“

„Don’t worry about it. Aside from what it did to my back, I actually slept really well. I really got to hustle now though.“ Within less than five minutes, the clothes were fetched from the dryer and she was ready to leave. Seeing her get ready to walk out of the door made him feel sad somehow. After all, there was no knowing if she’d ever return. He was about to say his goodbyes, but she spoke up first.

„Yesterday was really fun, despite the storm and all. We should do this again sometime.“

„Sure.“

„As a date, I mean.“ _Oh._ Those five words completely knocked the wind out of him and he found that all words had disappeared from his mind, effectively rendering his brain useless. „Only if you want to I mean. God that was stupid just forge-“

„I’d like that.“ he finally managed to get out. Smooth. 

„Really? Text you later, then!“ and just like that she was out of the door. 

During the whole exchange, his heart had started beating faster and it didn’t go back to normal for a while.


End file.
